Axed Eskom CEO gets top government job

Cape Town – Cabinet on Friday announced that former Eskom chief executive Tshediso Matona has been appointed as secretary for national planning in the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation.

Matona’s appointment comes five months after he was suspended as Eskom CEO. In May, the utility said Matona had agreed to part ways "amicably".

The reasons for his dismissal are still not known.

Matona spent just over six months at the helm of Eskom and it is not known if he received a "golden handshake".

Earlier on Friday the Presidency dismissed an article by the Mail & Guardian as "incorrect and misleading". The article claimed that President Jacob Zuma apologised to Matona for the bad treatment he had received.

In its statement, the Presidency said the President "does not run state-owned enterprises”.

“The enterprises report to line function departments. All career incidents of officials and executives in these departments are managed by the Boards and/or the Ministers responsible.

“The President therefore cannot apologise for the suspension or any unpleasant career incident of any government official or executive,” it said.